Jim O

I was talking to a guy at the fuel stop and he has a 06 Dodge with an Auto trans and he was raving about his Max Energy for towing. My 03 is mostly stock (see signature) and it is a 6 speed manual. Question is would it be any good for me? I have seen a lot of information on Edge, Smarty etc. but I haven't heard any thing on this site about Max Energy.
Jim O

surfram

Here is a link to the dyno chart from hypertech:

http://www.hypertech.com/Performance...Cummins_HO.pdf

AH64ID

You won't find many people on here running them, most people prefer a Smarty.

Did the guy with the 06 have gauges?

surfram

Hypertech claims the max energy is tow-safe on all levels with safe EGTs. I'll be testing one on my truck when I get done paying other bills. From the dyno charts, it looks relatively safe for an otherwise stock truck. I wish other programmer companies would post their dyno charts like hypertech does. I know everyone loves the smarty jr but there are alot of smoked 48REs out there too.

AH64ID

HP kills the 48RE, not the Smarty.. Anything that adds power needs a better trans. I don't see what you are seeing in the dyno charts that says your trans will think extra hp is okay.

Only getting 142 ft/lbs out of 91 additional hp tells me its more of a top end tuner. I also don't think that claiming increases at 3200 rpms is really pratical, the OE tuning begins a gradual defuel from 2900 to 3200. So a hp gain at 3200 is very easy to obtain.

Smarty Jr un-corr

Stock 284/519
SW1 295/610
SW2 UKN
SW3 382/702

There is a reason everyone like the SJR.

Jim O

Yes he did have a pyro and a boost gauge He was a Hotshotter and was pulling an empty goose neck deck trailer. He told me he had a 03 HO six speed like mine with a Bully Dog before and had nothing but trouble with it and the 06 had and Auto and had 25000 kms (16000miles) before he put the Max energy on it. He felt that it really increased the power and the fuel mileage He had it set on the middle setting. The thing that makes me a little gun shy is the claim that even on the highest setting you can tow without worrying about exhaust temp. He said that on the middle setting he was not to worried about his 48R. He also told me that Hypertech change the timing and the duration but do not raise the rail pressure and I kind of like that idea, but I do not know for sure that it is true. The Speedo showed 310,000 Kms and I did see that with my own eyes,that would be around 190,000 miles.
Jim O

AH64ID

The smarty Jr doesn't raise rail pressure either.

surfram

I was under the impression that high torque gains at low rpm killed the 48RE. I am not trying to bash the smarty jr. I see the hypertech as a milder alternative to the smarty jr that "should" be safer for the 48RE. The smarty jr is already at 610 torque on the lowest level where the hypertech hits 654 torque at 2100 on the highest level. I figured if I bought a smarty jr, it would probably never come off the lowest level because a new trans is not in my budget at this time. Why a programmer as popular as the smarty jr does not have published/posted dyno charts is beyond me. You would think with the number of smarties that have been sold, they would have dyno videos/charts available to everyone and produced by the actual manufacturer of the programmer.

AH64ID

Tq gains down low in the form of reducing tq management are harder on the trans/clutch/etc, but that can be set to stock on the Jr, or you can improve it a little.

By bottom end I mean there seems to be more power in the driving rpms 1500-2500 with the JR than the Hypertech, and thats better for towing IMHO.

So I just realized those dyno charts and your truck are both 04's. So the power I quotes will be more than what you make since my truck is an 05. And it also appears that Hypertech doesn't tune the auto's as hard as the manuals.

Its very hard to see actual low rpm gains on a dyno as the motor builds several hundred rpms as it gets to max power, its why on a dyno you never see max tq in the 1600 rpm range where it actually is.

And I will not for one second even consider towing at Stage 3 on the hypertech at max GCWR even possible. The stock turbo does not move enough air to support 402/767 with a load. Stage 2 is about the max the turbo can handle, and thats the same with the Smarty Jr, can't tow on 3 with the stock turbo an expect to have safe EGT's.

I guess it also rubs me the wrong way that they give their max hp numbers at 3200, and that they don't specialize in diesel's.

The Smarty JR SW1 is timing only, other than if you change the tq management settings, the fueling is stock levels, it gains all that power and tq from timing alone. It goes to show you what the EPA stole from us!

All in all the Hypertech is probably not a bad tuner and it is cheaper than a Smarty Jr by almost $200, but it won't offer the same performance (not just power but overall performance) nor adjustablity. Like I said, there is a reason Smarty's are so popular.

I don't have a dyno with SW2 as it is now. When the Jr 1st came out SW2 made a lot more power than it should have.

These are corrected numbers, the uncorrected numbers are posted above.

You can see here, and on the hypertech dyno the OE defuel from 2900-3200.